Thursday, June 11, 2015

Welcome To Zootopia!: First Teaser Drops

Certainly not the kind of a teaser I was expecting, and it also didn't show us a complete render of the titular city. I was hoping that it was going to show it at the end, after considerable build-up, but no-go...

Anyways...

The teaser probably does its job. I'm already seeing complaints, people saying it looks "too DreamWorks" (what DreamWorks are we talking about? Snarky mid-2000s DreamWorks?) or it looks "generic" or "too much like Chicken Little" (yes, because a concept dictates whether the movie will be good or not, regardless of the... *GASP* writing) or whatever. Just like the goofy Olaf and Sven on ice teaser for Frozen, this teaser is just... Well... A teaser! I reckon it's not made for you and I, but for the general public who need a little convincing to see this big animated picture in droves on opening weekend.

It does an okay job at introducing the mere concept of the picture, it's perhaps a little on-the-nose, but again, it should work on general audiences. You'll know when you see it before Inside Out in the theaters. If a majority of the crowd laughs (I remember when I saw Monsters University, the entire audience burst out laughing at the dreaded Frozen teaser), then it worked, regardless of what we may think. Me? I would love to see Disney do trailers that were epic like their early 90s trailers, but that's just me.

Disney Animation's teasers have adapted the Pixar strategy, and it's working so far.

So what do I like? I love the character designs, the humor works (love the bit with the goat/wildebeest-looking thing at the end), and the personalities of Nick Wilde and Judy Hopps seem to be well-established here. Again, I would've loved to have seen a glimpse of the city, but they're probably saving that for Annecy, and the proper trailer. That's my only beef, really.

What's also cool is that, like many reports have said before, the animals may walk and talk like people, but they still have their unique traits. I'm particularly interested to see where they'll go with that, it'll probably make for a lot of clever story bits and comedy. It more than differentiates it from other animated films that have gone done down this path, such as Disney's own Robin Hood.

That all being said, I don't need a teaser to convince me to see this film. They had me at A) It being a Walt Disney Animation Studios film, B) it being directed by Byron Howard and Rich Moore, and C) the concept. So like many animated movie teasers and trailers, it's not made for us, the people who are in the know about animation and know who made what (did Pixar make this???). Let's see if it works on the non-fans and average Joe-n-Jane moviegoers.

2 comments:

I really liked it. I'm excited but am one of those nervous about the humor and being too 'hip and cool'. The fly down scene felt a little that way. But I'm also very confident it will be good and fun they are trying something different.

Greetings, Programs!

Animation lover, aspiring writer/director of animated films, 60s and 70s music fan, collector of vinyl records, vintage Disney VHS aficionado and proud Aspie. Formerly known as Ostrumation92, also known as Imaxination1980.

Rights to the main text, personal photos and videos of Kyle's Animated World are held by the author, Kyle Ostrum (DeLuxODonnell92 / Imaxination1980 / animaspie92). All other images belong to their respective owners and are used under fair use.